Members are reminded of their personal
responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in
respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the
provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to
Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s
Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)
Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and
subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the
nature of the personal interest and

(b)
Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the
disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair
when they leave

Sue Walker introduced the item and provided
the committee with a background into GIGs (Governor Improvement
Groups) and highlighted some excellent examples of work being
carried out by the Southern Cluster Group.

The following questions were raised by the
committee and responded to in detail by the appropriate
officer.

·
What is currently being done by both the governing body and the LEA
(Local Education Authority) to fill the number of vacancies
highlighted in the report

·
21 governing bodies have yet to complete the self-evaluation tool,
what is being done to encourage these governing bodies to complete
the self-evaluation and is it a requirement

·
7.1 of the report mentions - Identifying any good practice in noted
areas of improvement. Can you explain how you would go about
measuring any success and improvements

·
The report states that the local authority will support the GIGs
with any training and development, does the authority have a
designated officer to supply the training and would there be
budgetary implications

·
In relation to governor training evaluation are there figures
available to show how many governors required the mandatory
training and how many actually undertook the training

·
What work is being done to support the GIGs in the Pen-y-Dre and
Cyfarthfa clusters

Joe Colsey
introduced the item to the committee and highlighted the salient
points in relation to the school review group meetings.

The following questions were raised by the
committee and responded to in detail by the appropriate
officers.

·
What evidence is there that the actions recorded at the review
meetings are carried out and are successful

·
The report states that the School Review Group meets every month.
In respect of outcomes at KS4 in 2016-17 where performance was
unsatisfactory in nearly all key indicators, at what point did the
Group become aware that results at KS4 would not be as good as the
previous couple of years, and what did they do about it

·
In relation to pupil tracking software, is it correct that
different software is used throughout the schools in the county
Borough

·
Is it worth aligning all schools to use the same software which
would allow pupils to be tracked from Primary through to Secondary
education and even onto College/University or into Community
Groups

·
The report mentions “the self-improving and self-regulating
school led system” can you explain what this is about and how
you will measure the success or lack of

Joe Colsey
introduced the item and provided the committee with a brief
overview of the processes involved in the Estyn Thematic
Reviews.

The following questions were raised by the
committee and answered in detail by the appropriate officers.

·
The report states that schools are signposted to the relevant
reports and training materials when they are published. Do you ever
follow up on this to ensure the schools are implementing the
recommendations where required

Sue Walker introduced the item to the
committee and briefly outlined the findings held within the report
in relation to 2.3 (Other Education Services) and 3.4 (Use Of
Resources).

The following questions were raised by the
committee and responded to in detail by the appropriate
officers

·
Previously Welsh Government have protected Educational Services and
funding but with the Welsh Government Association having applied
pressure for the budgets not to be ring fenced. Can you confirm if
there will be cuts to next year’s budget

·
Can you provide a timescale on when a review will be carried out
and when will the proposed changes to how the authority will
configure services for children with additional learning needs
across all sectors. This should then reduce the pressure on
Greenfield School as our only specialist SEN provision

·
By the time you bring the review findings back to this Committee in
May would some of the provisions already be in place

Councillor Chris Davies welcomed the Chief
Education Officer’s comments in relation to the review into
services for Children with additional learning needs and looks
forward to receiving the report at a future committee to support
the officers in what they want to achieve.

·
The report states that the welsh medium provision is sufficient
until 2024 in two Welsh Medium Primary Schools, however what are
the figures for other schools and welsh medium child care
provisions within the County Borough

·
With the increase in demand for children to be taught in the Welsh
Medium is there scope for our English schools to provide Bilingual
education so that pupils are not lost to other schools outside of
the electoral ward, namely Bedlinog.

·
In relation to early years it states the current position on the
take up of child care provision has increased across the county
borough from 31% to 34% with the take up of a flying start
placement increasing to 97%. Is Merthyr Tydfil looking to expand
flying start in other areas

·
The report states that based on current information the local
authority has 17 out of 28 school
buildings (61%) in conditions A and B (Good/Satisfactory). It also
states these figures are based on current information, how old is
this information

·
What about the 39% of school buildings that aren’t good to
satisfactory

·
The Afon Taf Band A Refurbishment project was completed in August
2017 - can
you confirm if this was complete on time and within budget

·
Can you provide the committee with an update in relation to the
amalgamation of Gurnos Nursery with Goetre Primary

Councillor Chris Davies raised an issue in
relation to setting up a Joint Scrutiny Committee to consider the
outcomes for looked after children. He explained that he had spoken
to the Chair of Social Services Scrutiny and it was agreed that the
subject would be raised at the next Social Services Scrutiny
meeting so that preparations for the Joint Committee can be made at
the next Learning and LAESCYP meeting in April.